bird sightings

A,
I wouldn't have believed this unless I had seen it myself, but it appears as though our property is hospitable enough to host several different animals of the avian variety. Although we had seen several birds flitting about our back yard lately, there's not much in it that would entice a bird to stay. We used to have some lovely oleander bushes (the only flowering item in the yard), but cold from last winter appears to have significantly injured them, and there have been no blossoms this year. Yet despite this, I have actual photographic evidence of bird life on our premises!

I wasn't quite sure what this was when I first saw it, and so I imagine that you might not either. In fact, I thought at first that it might be a wasps' nest, and I was considering destroying it, when I realized that it was in fact a hummingbird nest. My apologies, as I have been unable to catch the hummingbird in its resting spot long enough to take a photograph. But still. Evidence!

Even more surprising, it appears as though there is a family of birds that have made their nest inside of our house. They have remained rather elusive, although in a rare bout of boldness, I was able to catch several of them at play long enough to photograph them.

This appears to be the mother bird. She is quite a large specimen and much more shy than her two fledglings. Here she is hiding behind an armrest.

The two babies have accrued many more sightings, as they tend to make much more noise and to play openly. Here they are balancing on top of a lamp shade.

And here is the interesting part about these birds. I don't know if this is a new category of bird or mammal altogether, but it appears as though this species is part marsupial. I find this to be quite curious. It is too bad that I do not know more about animal taxonomy, as I would like to know if there is any precedent for such a species. Perhaps I should have paid more attention during our biodiversity class lectures.

K

A sort-of first and a sort-of last

A,
Here I will report on my two very exciting beginnings and endings. To begin, I have a first baby item, a snuggly blanket:

However, this is only a sort-of first, because I still have about a bajillion ends to weave in, as you can see:

The only reason why this project reached semi-completion is because (a) I started it well over a year ago (no particular recipient in mind), and (b) it was the most mindless project I could come up with. My knitting has languished over the past six months, and I fear that without this relatively simple project, I would have failed to have done any knitting at all. As it is, I am sure that I went weeks without picking up any project, though I am hoping to make up for that inattention to crafting over this summer.

And to end, this is my last day at school.

Only, it's a sort-of-last day, because I still need to clean out my desk and check out of the department. And it's not even my official last day of doing business, because I have a meeting to attend later this week (though technically not on campus, which is why I am considering this my sort-of last day at school).

So there it is. Two exciting, momentous bookends. A sort-of beginning and a sort-of ending. And just think, you will have your very own beginning and end in about . . . four months! Hooray for us.

Take care, Amy. I might send you some spoons so you have a more effective means of eating your yogurt.
K

purpled

A,
Everything that I am knitting right now is purple. I took a look at my ravelry projects and noticed a similar theme. This is something I did not know about myself, that I was drawn to the red and purple hues.

Now that I finished these gloves, I may move on to something less purple . . . or not, since it's such a fine color.

Can I just say that these look horrible? The fingers are all floppy-like. It's not until they are slipped onto the hand that they look worthwhile. Maybe it's just my poor photography skills, but I'm glad they don't look as wretched while being worn. Here's my artsy hand-model shot that looks much better:

In case you were wondering, this is my ballerina hand. It took years of practice to cultivate. I hope you appreciate.

These are not for me, although I do enjoy the grape smell. I shipped these out a couple weeks ago to LaKeisha in Ohio. I am hoping that they fit.

K

Veterans' Day

Today I honor the veterans in my life, my two grandfathers and my grandmother. Veterans' Day was originally known as armistice day, a day when fighting stopped, a day of peace.

Today, one year and one day ago, my grandfather died and found his peace.

Twenty-six years ago my other grandfather found his peace.

My grandmother was a nurse in France during WWII, and has lived a beautiful life after.


May we all find peace and end war.


Amy

the search for the perfect squash

A,
Before this week, my primary indication that the seasons were changing was the change of produce available at the grocery store. And of course, the fall produce of greatest significance to me was the vast array of squashes available for consumption. This is a selection of some of the different types of squash that I decided to sample:


I would say that I am the primary (sole) squash eater in this household, so I embarked on a solitary culinary escapade in order to determine my squash preferences. This week, I sampled from the turban squash (top right), a rather large specimen with plump seeds. I was really rooting for the turban squash, because it was ridiculously easy to slice into prior to being cooked. If I had found it delicious, it would have sealed the deal. Being easy to cut into would make my squash habit more self-sufficient (as in, I wouldn't need to require the services of a more muscular husband).

Here's the bad news. I have a huge bowl of turban squash sitting in the refrigerator right now, languishing in watery stringyness because I found it sub-par to more desirable squash species. Ahh, well, at least I am learning.

This week was the first week that felt like fall to me. Most of October was spent in the mid-nineties, but it's starting to cool. James said it felt like winter, but he was out at night, when the temperatures drop a bit more dramatically. Anyway, I am home today, and I decided to break out the knitted sweaterly items.


In any case, this is my creation, and it's finally cool enough to wear it in person, so I thought I would take a photo to commemorate. Plus, climbing in trees is fun. This was made from local alpaca, and it felt like I was wrapping myself in my own personal blanket when I put it on today.

Karen

PS. Do you remember the yarn turbans that we sported while trying on makeup and watching naked soccer?

PPS. I support potato intolerance. Squash over potatoes forever!

vestiges

A,
This last winter was pretty cold for Arizona's standards. I believe this was due to the fact that it was an El Nino year, which made it a bit more soggy and cool than normal. National guard was even called out for Flagstaff area because of all the snow (although snow wasn't really an issue where I live).

This abnormally cool season led me to believe that it would be appropriate to make some winter knits, and I started a few projects. I started blogging about them too, but then I never actually posted pictures of the finished products.


The truth is that, save for a couple days a year, these projects are probably inappropriate past late morning--even in the winter months. I think I was being overly optimistic that these projects would get any real use out here. I guess we'll see what happens. It's still fun to create.


Part of me was being rational, and told myself to at least leave off the sleeves. I think this was a good choice.

Hooray for vests!

Karen

PS. When it's cold enough to wear (and when I have someone to take pictures for me) I will post a photo of these sweaters in action (aka being worn).

lace break

A,
I know that I alarmed you with my latest post, but please do not worry. I am actually motivated at this very moment. So motivated, that after I finish this post, I will be doing work! Real work! But first, I wanted to show you:


I enjoy knitting lace. It is intricate and delicate and repetitious and billowy. Thank you for the yarn.

Alright, that's the end of my break.

Karen